The Book of George
Shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction
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3.9 • 19 Ratings
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE FOR COMIC FICTION
'A smart, funny and surprisingly moving read for fans of Dolly Alderton' THE I PAPER
'A commercial-literary gem for fans of Kiley Reid, Curtis Sittenfeld and Alison Espach' PANDORA SYKES
'If you're honest, you'll admit that you've raised George or dated George or, worse, you are George' WASHINGTON POST
'This book is a knockout' MARIA SEMPLE
'An excellent novel...as convincing as it is moving' ADELLE WALDMAN
'Perceptive, funny and tender' ALISON ESPACH
We all know a George. He's the kind of guy who's brimming with potential but incapable of following through### he doesn't know if he's in love with his girlfriend, but he certainly likes having her around; he's distant from - but still reliant on - his mother; he swears he'll finish his novel one day.
Sure, you might find him disappointing. But no one is more disappointed in George than George himself.
As funny as it is astute and as singular as it is universal, The Book of George is a deft, unexpectedly moving never-coming-of-age tale and a portrait of one man, but also countless others.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Greathead (Laura & Emma) offers a wry and riveting story of wasted potential that follows its eponymous protagonist from the ages of 12 to 38. As a boy, George's relationship with his parents is distant. When his mother, Ellen, divorces his clothes-horse father, Denis, George's contempt for Denis grows. In college, George drifts further from Denis after he develops a thriving friend group. When Denis has a stroke, George puts off visiting him until it's too late, marking the onset of lifelong feelings of guilt and depression. Greathead keenly depicts the ways in which George's fractured family and grief contribute to his low self-esteem, which he masks under his narcissism and unjust critique of others, including his long-term girlfriend, Jenny, who supports him while he interns at a hedge fund and later quits working to pursue writing. George, though self-absorbed, shows enough potential for redemption to sustain Jenny's interest as well as the reader's, and Jenny delivers the book's best lines ("Some people go through life trying to build others up.... You like to poke holes"). As George considers Jenny's accusations, it's a testament to Greathead's skill that he becomes a character worth rooting for. This is a revelation.
